Introduction

The following tutorial will provide a brief overview of some of the techniques used to texture a scene using the Total Textures collection available at 3DTotal. As with all of the scenes I have designed for this purpose, I tend to keep the geometry reasonably simple and rely on the textures for much of the detail.

Previous to starting this scene I had finished a concept that focused on a towering slum block set against a cloudy sky. To add a futuristic feel I incorporated an ambiguous floating tower whose white exterior gleamed as it caught some sunlight breaking through the cloud cover.

This contrast between the almost celestial tower and the doleful slum block formed the inspiration for this particular scene. The notion of creating an environment with a curious element, which somehow seems at odds with it, was an idea I wanted to carry though into this piece. As a result I created a conventional street scene comprising a mix of architectural styles and then modeled a large tower with a more unusual entrance. As with the concept, the function of this building is also a mystery; maybe it is a strange residence or perhaps an industrial facility around which a township has evolved.

Camera Position and Lighting

If anyone has read any of my previous tutorials then you will be familiar with my approach, which generally follows the same process. Once I have some provisional geometry built, I add a camera and some lighting to get a better idea about the focal areas and what takes priority.

Despite showing a final stage in Fig.01, the camera and lights were established earlier and remained unchanged. As you can see in the bottom right view, the right side of the street is less apparent and therefore less important.

Fig.01

Because this right side is shaded and facing away from the camera I opted to mirror the textured buildings from the opposite side. This goes against the grain of realism, but if aspects are inconspicuous then shortcuts are acceptable. The buildings are not visible beyond the curve in the street and so there was no need to add any beyond a certain point (see 1 in the top view).
Of the buildings, the two ringed in red (focal point) are the most visible and so these were unwrapped.